Travel Picks: Top 10 party scenes in history

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - As partygoers across the world nurse sore heads after New Year’s Eve parties, spare a thought for those who enjoyed some of the biggest parties ever.

Men’s website AskMen.com has some up with a list of the ultimate party scenes of the past 80 years and what made them great. This list is not endorsed by Reuters:

1. New York City in the 1920s

For music, dancing and bad behavior, there was no place better than New York in the 1920s. The inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, New Yorkers began to put priority on modern glitz and artistic individuality. Large weekly parties in honor of the generation’s great athletes such as Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey were the norm. But it all came to a crashing halt on October 24, 1929, as a decade of financial depression took over.

2. Buenos Aires in the 1950s

The cultural epicenter of South America during the 1950s was Argentina’s capital city. Buenos Aires served as one of the top five destinations in the world for the jet-set crowd. In spite of political unrest, you would often find the likes of Porfirio Rubirosa romancing Zsa Zsa Gabor or Ava Gardner after a night at the Teatro Colon.

3. The Dalmatian Coast in the 1990s

While the first half of the decade saw Croatia in a brutal war with Serbia, the latter half of the 1990s saw the Dalmatian Coast surge into the limelight as one of the under-the-radar scenes for wealthy Europeans and movie stars. The Dalmatian coast was dubbed “the next Italian Riviera” for its stunning beaches and small bohemian towns. The likes of Bill Gates and Gwyneth Paltrow could be seen aboard yachts or strolling through town.

4. Dubai in the 2000s

Prior to the early 2000s, Dubai was best known to the U.S. as nothing more than a refueling zone for battle ships during the Gulf War. But upon completion of the Burj Al Arab hotel in 2000, the world took notice of this small emirate of the United Arab Emirates. The Burj labeled itself the first “7-star” hotel, despite the fact that the hotel rating systems cease at five. The world became enamored with the over-the-top ritz and opulence shown in Dubai, and it became an international hub for luxury hotels, shopping and real estate.

5. Park City in the 1970s

Before Sundance came to town, Park City, Utah was a sleepy place plagued by the failure of its mining industry. When Robert Redford showed up with the first independent film festival in the United States, things changed. Originally called the Utah/U.S. Film Festival, the show took place down the mountain from Park City in Salt Lake, but because of the pristine main street and proximity to ski resorts, the scene was all about Park City. Artists came flocking to get a piece of high-grade cinematic action. By 1981, Sundance had officially moved to Park City and the scene changed from insiders and artists to pretty much every Hollywood wannabe.

6. Ibiza in the 1990s

There was never a dance party scene like that of Ibiza, Spain in the 1990s. Led by DJs Paul Oakenfold and Paul Van Dyke, Ibiza quickly changed course from being a hippie hangout in the ‘70s to being the trance and house music capital of the world. The dance clubs were open 24 hours a day and included Space, which is consistently rated the best club in the world.

7. Monte Carlo in the 1980s

While the international jet-set may have always known about Monte Carlo, it was Princess Grace of Monaco’s tragic death in 1982 that caused the rest of the world to pay attention. Despite having a population of only 3,000, Monte Carlo is home to some of the wealthiest people in the world, and during the finance-driven 1980s, there was no hotter place to be. The small town on the Cote d’Azur even played host to the 1988 Steve Martin classic, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.”

8. St. Barths in the 1970s

The original Caribbean hideaway for celebrities and the international elite, St. Barths first gained notoriety in the early 1970s. While thousands of miles away from France, St. Barths retains much of the cultural and culinary charm of its imperial motherland and it was during this decade that the Caribbean became popular as a winter playground.

9. London in the 1960s

The 1960s in the British capital city will go down as some of the most fashionable eras of the last 100 years. People came from all over the world for nightlong parties. The original Mod or modernist movement led to The Who’s Quadrophenia a decade later and the brilliance of Blur and Oasis in the early 1990s.

10. Goa, India, in the 1970s

This small beachside town on the coast of India was probably the biggest drug and sex scene of the time. It became such a phenomenon that more than a few books were written about the power of Goa in the ‘70s, the most notable being Cleo Odzer’s “Goa Freaks.”